On Forgetfulness

 Growing up I was a taboo.
Tall woman. Proud woman.
Woman who owned herself.
Woman who owned her abuse.

Should I have been
a woman
growing up?

When I was fifteen I was published
in a magazine for survivors
of sexual assault. I didn’t question
whether such a magazine should exist.

I questioned my word choice.
Did I “forgive my offender”
or did I “move past the offense”?

My therapist used to say that forgiveness
was not the same as forgetfulness.
She may have been the first feminist
I ever met.

By Lili Leader-Williams

Biography:

Lili Leader-Williams lives in Washington State with her husband and two cats. She has been published previously in Cahoodaloodaling, Slim Volume: This Body I Live In from Pankhearst, and Alliterati Magazine. Her dearest ambition is to make sure you don’t feel alone.